The first several minutes of getting introduced to Mario at the W Hotel in Hollywood really showed how much he’s changed in his new role as an indie artist. Showing up thirty minutes late to the interview, he seemed genuinely apologetic.
His excuse?
Mario had to personally transport himself from getting his music mastered to the interview. That’s when it hit me, this wasn’t the same major label R&B crooner once signed under J Records. Nope, the man who gave the world “Just A Friend,” “Let Me Love You” and “Break Up” was handling a whole lot of artist leg work himself. This time through his own label, New Citizen.
“It’s a lot of work being an independent artist because you have to manage personalities as well as your own day-to-day business,” Mario said. “When people are working for you, your label and your team, it’s like a different type of responsibility that you have over those personalities. You have to coach the whole thing.”
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According to Mario, the break-up with the label was amicable or in his words, “Just as the label changed and grew, it was time for me to change and grow.”
Then there are more creative changes that have taken place within the genre. In this day and age, the line is blurred enough in Hip Hop and R&B for many not to even notice the difference. “The approach of a lot of the new wave of artists may not sonically be traditional, but lyrically it’s still very personal,” explained Mario. “You think about Drake, Bryson Tiller, Tory Lanez, The Weeknd or PARTYNEXTDOOR. These guys’ music are very R&B-ish in the lyrics and concepts. It’s something people can relate to on a day-to-day basis.”
This makes the recent release of “I Need More” a lot more sensible. The track, which dropped in early May, combines the ambient bass with those golden vocal pipes from Mario. “I Need More”s message of finding happiness within one’s self should fall in line with what he has in store with his next full-length project, Paradise Cove.
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Around 80 percent done, the album is about turning one’s hardships into glory. “It’s about dealing with your own demons, desires and temptations,” said Mario. “All of these things and coming out on top. It represents turning pressure into diamonds.”
That’s something Mario should understand fairly well between his former label situation and letting the world know about the relationship with his mother whose battle with drug addiction became media fodder. “I want to use the message of music to spread consciousness and love and all types of things the way I see fit to do it,” he adds. “That’s what I feel my wave is. Music that’s conscious, even if it has an R&B flair to it. It’s still the message is deeper.”
